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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26443162">An analysis of 227</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/'>Anonymous</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>None - Fandom</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 05:27:24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>10,452</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26443162</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A fan's observation and analysis of the 227 incident</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Anonymous</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Part 1 - How did we get there?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><strong>Part 1 - How did we get there?</strong><br/>
<br/>
I'll start with the entertainment industry in general.<br/>
<br/>
<strong>1. </strong><br/>
When it comes to the idol industry in China, it's inseparable from the Korean Industry, where they actively promote K-pop as a cultural good. I think we have all come across it in some sense. They have perfected the idol-group machine to perfection almost and making billions every year with their "export". Why is this important? Because of geopolitics (yes I know, this someone is related). South Korea had a long standing friendly relationship with the USA, which has been on a warpath with the idea of communism for a long time (roughly since WWII), so that's clear. Given the economic rise of SK, China sees itself threatened by this power. Roughly in the decade of 2000', the state had announced its interest in analysing, studying and eventually surpassing South Korea's media dominance in Asia, from pop-music to television and films. (There is one scenario where a very popular SK drama earned about 3 hour debating time at the NATIONAL CONVENTION!!! to answer the question, why Korea can produce such good TV show and China couldn't)<br/>
<br/>
<strong>2. </strong><br/>
Following this agenda, lots of media companies popped up in China in the attempt to copy the Korean style of Pop content. YueHua is one of them. They were established in early 2010' and looked for their first batch of trainees. From what I've heard, they looked all over the country, auditioned hundreds of thousands to settle on the first batch of 10k to enter their more rigorous training program. Wang Yibo was one amongst these kids. Eventually, he passed the "test" and became an official Trainee under YueHua's flag.<br/>
<br/>
<strong>3. </strong><br/>
However the popularisation of Korean Style Pop-culture has not only dominated the industry until today, it has also opened up new economic paths to the industry. Not just by selling music and having concerts. It is the business endorsement. With the rise of China's economic power and rise in consumption goods since the 2000's, brands have started to notice, having an idol endorsing products are way more lucrative than expensive ad campaigns or traditional, credible celebrities. Especially for consumption goods like, food, cosmetics, fashion and household items. With the additional of seasonal changes, the brands run low risk, and potential high gain<br/>
<br/>
<strong>4. </strong><br/>
This brings up to now. Idols attract a young and passionate crowd, willing to put money down for products their Idol endorses. The idols themselves gain exposure from these endorsements. The Idol companies make a huge cut from this. To be clear, these deals are mostly seasonal, there is a difference between a "Brand-endorser" and "Brand-ambassador". Endorsers stay on for a season, maybe 2. Ambassadors stay on for years. So it's a symbiotic system to sell "low" price products to a massive audience.<br/>
<br/>
<strong>5. </strong><br/>
In 2019, due to the TU, GG has reached unprecedented popularity. (as of why, I'll analyse in another post). Given he was quite a "no-name" actor, I can safely assume, his endorsement fee wasn't very high. So as markets work. High demand + low price = lots lots of it sold! Towards the end of 2019, GG took on over 20 brands, ranging from cosmetic to tiny stuff. Most noticeable was Olay of course. And his popularity meant that he dominated the charts of "brand value". Early this year I saw a KPI (key-performance-indicator) chart, which highlighted in the Q4 of 2019, XZ alone took up about 80% of the market. 80%!!! At this point, I don't have to mention the envy and resentment he was getting from his competitors<br/>
<br/>
<strong>6. </strong><br/>
This part is my theory. Given he wasn't really a K-style Idol, but represented a very Chinese vibe of person, such as, a normal traditional up-bringing, went through university like every one of us, and generally represented not a different culture but that of China, his dominance in the market represented not only himself, but the shift of the Market. going from K-style dominated to C-style. And any threat to an established system invites conflict<br/>
<br/>
<strong>7.</strong><br/>
And finally towards the Chinese New Year and 227. That he was attacked online wasn't specifically new. With attention comes also scrutiny. And given, that wasn't "molded" to be an Idol, but represented the result of hard work, he attracted people like you and I, instead of an unobtainable, fairy like goal. So those seeing their vision of an "Idol" shattered started to smear him. But, hey, what else is new. I don't have concrete information about 227, but what I can say is the following: - It was meticulously planned - It had bigger economical gain at heart than just one actor being famous (because they come and go) - It was driven by way larger forces than anyone of the existing Idol companies - And Xiao Zhan was just the perfect lamb for the slaughter.<br/>
<br/>
<strong>8. </strong><br/>
Summary: Xiao Zhan's popularity threatened an established entertainment industry. It was the perfect storm. And people in power and with the intent to balance the status wouldn't hesitate to put up some investment for risk-management.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Part 2.1 - What actually happened?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><strong> PART 2 - What actually happened? </strong><br/>
<br/>
<strong>1. The Timing of it all. </strong><br/><br/>
The time is February 2020, the country of China had just recently released a state-wide issued quarantine to battle the spread of Covid-19. All transport is to be seized, beside essential working, citizens were to stay at home. Similar to what is happening a month later in Europe, most Chinese people were in a state of shock and fear. It is exactly during this time, that those with the least privileges got hit the hardest. Those with day jobs were left on their own to fend for themselves.<br/><br/>
As far as I remember, the quarantine took effect in larger cities exactly before the eve of the Lunar New year. The year of the Rat, the start of a new zodiac cycle. There is anticipation of a new decade and new cycle in the air, where all misery is supposed to be that of the past. With this uncalled-for roadblock for most people, like us, the internet became the path of escapism.<br/><br/>
In the first few days of lockdown, the usual websites for leisure experienced a major spike in activity, which is to contribute to the sudden availability of users. Lofter, the very popular fan-fiction APP/website is no exception to that. The Supertalks had massive movement, while Weibo itself saw their record user activity.<br/>
<br/>
<strong>2. “Falling”</strong><br/><br/>
Within these frameworks and Xiao Zhan’s popularity, huge amounts of content were sent around online, with one particular work standing out as a point of contention. 下坠. This work is a slack-fanfiction about Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo, where XZ is put in the character of a hairdresser with transsexual inclination and works as a prostitute on the side.* And Yibo’s character is that of a high-school boy who falls in love with her**.<br/><br/>
Of course, everyone here is familiar with the steamy and yellow nature of mature content in fanfiction, however, as freely as we talk about sex in our creative works and fictitious imagination, it is nowadays still considered some what taboo to talk about sex opening, especially in relation to prostitution and outside of marriage.<br/><br/>
This particular work was incredibly (in-)famous in a very short amount of time after a user posted some chapters from Lofter and Ao3 on Weibo at the end of January.<br/><br/>
And the internet activity and visibility magnified with the lockdown, this was like a wildfire and spread across the sub-forums of the internet, experiencing the phenomenon of “out-of-the-circle”. Meaning it gained notoriety outside of the sub-cultural groups such as a supertalk or dedicated fan-circle.<br/><br/>
At this time, I would like to mention, we are looking back at this topic in hindsight clearly seeing the steps and the movement. I cannot say, if the country wasn’t in lockdown and people had lots of free time on their hands, this wouldn’t have happened. But the data point me to the conclusion, the situation more than enlarged the problem.<br/><br/>
*Hairdresser as a prostitute is a cultural phenomenon in China. As prostitution is officially outlawed, many brothels used a hair salon as a front. Therefore, a lot of work features a hairdresser as a salon girl, which can be interpreted as a “in-official prostitute. (I’m not sure about other Asian countries, so feel free to chime in).<br/>
**For the sake of the Character’s self-identification, I’m referring to the character with the pronouns she/her<br/>
<br/>
<strong>3. Ao3</strong><br/><br/>
I’ll finally come to the point. This work also existed on Ao3. Oh our beloved Ao3, a heaven for those of a creative heart and a dirty mind. 😉<br/>
Ao3. So Ao3 is known in China, especially around those who read a lot of homosexual content. And it was freely accessible in China. I know this for a fact, as I was travelling in China last year in October and I frequently visited this page without VPN.<br/><br/>
The fanfiction “Falling” gained attention of a group of very protective fans of GG who were incredibly upset by the portrayal of their idol. This group of people started nothing less than a social justice war on the various platforms in “protection” of GG’s reputation. They were enraged that their idol would ever be portrayed as a girl, and that of a girl of ill repute.<br/><br/>
However, on February the 26th a few Weibo Users went nuts about it and started attacking those users who originally shared this work. The day after, Ao3 was no longer accessible through the Chinese web on default. (You can still do it with VPN, obviously, but that wasn’t the point)<br/><br/>
I wasn’t following this happening too closely, as some of these comments were nothing but cyber harassment. For those of you who want to imagine it, it’s like a crusade. Raising a flag of peace and slaughtering others. (Sorry if this comment offends anyone, but historically speaking, I think there is parallel) Of course, a war is never fought one-sided, and those who were attacked, harassed, and offended didn’t stay quiet either.<br/><br/>
Hence started a war between the most vicious, malicious, and ugly key-board warriors in the recent internet history on Weibo. I was personally shocked to the extent of brutality and cruelty the Chinese language offers. For the sake of our pure ears, I will not even attempt to repeat any, but it is bad.<br/><br/>
As the verbal battle was ongoing, XZ “disappeared” from the public eye. Hence this incident is marked 227, to remember February 27th.<br/><br/>
Originally the battle was simply a bunch of fans bashing each other’s heads in verbally, but after the ban on Ao3, this fight attracted those angry about yet another platform disappearing.<br/><br/>
<br/>
<strong>3.5 The battle formation </strong><br/><br/>
I think at this point, when we talk about a battle or a war, it's worth looking at who is actually fighting. So in the way of over-simplification. I'm summarising the battle array as such.<br/><br/>
<strong>camp A:</strong> The overprotective militant fans of GG This group fight under the flag to protect their Idol's pristine reputation and wanting to fight off anyone daring to mention any flaw.<br/><br/>
<strong>camp B:</strong> Some crazy bjyx fans, angered by attacks So, this group of fans were obviously sailing under the rainbow colour. So you can imagine the tension there about to boil over by those not only wanting to sink their ship, but to ban the seafare in general.<br/><br/>
<strong>camp C:</strong> Ao3 users/fans, angered by yet another of their haven disappearing. Of course, I'm not saying any Ao3 users, but in deed, this group raised the banner of free-creativity and pointed their finger at those in camp A for taking away their right. (Right or wrong, history will tell us.)<br/><br/>
<strong>camp D:</strong> Antis. Well, this group, for a lack of better term should just be called scum. These sellswords have no loyalty to anyone, wherever there is blood, they come running. This group fights for fighting's sake. Of course, swinging the sword of disgrace, homophobia and all the weapons they could use. As the initial clash and bloody battlefield, the formation started to clear itself into: camp A + camp C vs. camp B with a dash of traitorous camp D sprinkled across both ranks.<br/>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Part 2.2 - What actually happened?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><strong> PART 2 - What actually happened? </strong><br/>
<br/>
</p>
<p><strong>4. You fight, he pays.</strong><br/><br/>
So what happened the next few days is nothing but insane. As I previously mentioned, a lot of bad roads lead to this castle on sand. We have: - A global pandemic making everyone cower in fear - A government ruling with an iron fist. - Closed in with the fear of the future All these issues brewed an incredible resentment and general frustration.<br/><br/>
It's not an understatement to say, the world is a powder keg, and the incident the much unwanted spark, to set off a chain reaction. What initially seemed to be a fiery debate about principles and agenda quickly turned into a pub-brawl of drunken fools. With emotions high, and anger exploding, it was soon not about what was right and wrong, but about what the tone was. I shall not repeat about the depth of human cruelty when given the mask of anonymity and seemingly intouchability. <br/><br/>
This brings me to the real problem, that the entire 227 kicked off. "You fight, he pays." Given that camp C let out their anger, led by a group of very .... let's call them capable fighters, are determined to make GG pay. Of course, since they can't really do anything about those fanatics. So, the next best target is the person they were protecting. The massive fight went on and on. And this noise attracted everyone's attention. Every opportunist saw this as a platform to increase their following. With a scapegoat identified, the winds changed yet again from fandom wars (which had happened a few times already) to "let's all band together and bring him down!</p>
<p><br/>
<strong>4.5. "my paraphrased summary of the stuff" </strong><br/>
<br/>
<strong>Militant solo-fanatics:</strong> HOW THE FUCK DARE YOU DO THAT!<br/>
<br/>
<strong>Some shippers:</strong> Dude, chill. Shipping is for fun, and...<br/>
<br/>
<strong>Militant solo-fanatics:</strong> FUN! U DIRTY PIG ölsdjgkheogfiöhfkljgh<br/>
<br/>
<strong>Some more shipper:</strong> Woah, woah... take a chill pill. You don't have to look if you don't like it.<br/>
<br/>
<strong>Militant solo-fanatics:</strong> AHHHHHHHHHHHH! I'M GONNA KILL YOU ALL!! DLHKASDÖLHFDJ "I'M CALLING THE POLICE!"<br/>
<br/>
<strong>Some shipper:</strong> lul!<br/>
<br/>
<strong>Other shippers:</strong> Wait, where is Ao3?<br/>
<br/>
<strong>Some shipper:</strong> ...<br/>
<br/>
<strong>Militant solo-fanatics:</strong> Finally! our god is the best!<br/>
<br/>
<strong>Shippers:</strong> Wait... WHAT? YOU.... asdölkjsdfölhkdfjhs<br/>
<br/>
<strong>Some rando:</strong> OMG! Fans! You're amazing! You finally clean up the filth!<br/>
<br/>
<strong>Shipper:</strong> Hey! Who you calling filth?<br/>
<br/>
<strong>Another shipper:</strong> C'mon, that kind of language is a bit unnecessary. Freedom of creativity. No one forced you to look.<br/>
<br/>
<strong>Random sellsword:</strong> For 50 bucks I'll beat them up for you!<br/>
<br/>
<strong>Shipper A:</strong> YES!<br/>
<br/>
<strong>Shipper B:</strong> Wait, wait... maybe not that extreme.<br/>
<br/>
<strong>Sellsword:</strong> *beats militant solo<br/>
<br/>
<strong>Militant solo:</strong> OMG! HOW DARE YOU BEAT ME! *turn around GUYS, THEY'RE HERE TO DESTROY OUR GOD! COME HELP ME KILL THEM.<br/>
<br/>
<strong>More militant solo:</strong> *clocks guns<br/>
<br/>
<strong>Some evil sellsword:</strong> Psst, for another 50 bucks, I'll switch side.<br/>
<br/>
<strong>Militant solo A:</strong> hands over 50 bucks.<br/>
<br/>
<strong>Militant solo B:</strong> hands over another 50 bucks. "Bring your friends!"<br/>
<br/>
<strong>Sellsword:</strong> *hits hard *plays dirty<br/>
<br/>
<strong>shipper:</strong> *brings out the big guns<br/>
<br/>
<strong>Other shippers:</strong> *comes with tanks<br/>
<br/>
<strong>Militant solo:</strong> RELEASE THE KRAKEN!!!<br/>
<br/>
<strong>Onlookers:</strong> what's going on?<br/>
<br/>
<strong>Another onlooker:</strong> I'll tell you for ten bucks.<br/>
<br/>
<strong>Shopkeeper:</strong> Here have a tea for 2 bucks, I'll tell you everything.<br/>
<br/>
<strong>Onlooker:</strong> What are they fighting about?<br/>
<br/>
<strong>Shopkeeper:</strong> That guy XZ. *goes on to make up shit to keep the business<br/>
<br/>
<em>They fight... eventually.... 2000 years later.</em><br/>
<br/>
<strong>Another onlooker:</strong> holy shit! What happened here?<br/>
<br/>
<strong>Shopkeeper:</strong> They fought over that guy XZ.<br/>
<br/>
<strong>Onlooker:</strong> Why?<br/>
<br/>
<strong>Shopkeeper:</strong> Apparently he asked his fans to.<br/>
<br/>
<strong>Onlooker:</strong> Damn... he has to pay, though.<br/>
<br/>
<strong>Shopkeeper:</strong> Totally.<br/>
<br/>
<em>Eventually. The police show up. </em><br/>
<br/>
<strong>Police:</strong> Stop fighting!<br/>
<br/>
<em>Everyone slowly stops. </em><br/>
<br/>
<strong>Police:</strong> Who started it?<br/>
<br/>
<strong>Everyone:</strong> XIAO ZHAN!</p>
<p>
  <strong></strong>
</p>
<p><br/>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Part 2.3 - What actually happened?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><strong> PART 2 - What actually happened? </strong><br/>
<br/>
<strong>5. How does it come to an end? </strong><br/><br/>
So at this point, the public sentiment is convinced that GG is the culprit of the story. Because for the simple-minded, the story has to be simple. There is always one person. One single individual's responsibility. One single person to hate. One single person to pay. Those now annoyed by GG's predominant appearance on social media started to resent him as well. Imagine, you scroll through your twt feed, hoping to find some relief of your daily stress, all you see are negativity and this guy just keeps showing up. Yeah... I can understand. It takes a calm and rational mind to not roll one's eyes to say. "I'm sure it has nothing to do with him." Those who were indifferent, started to join the fight. Either out of boredom or malice. Either way, it was soon about GG, and not Ao3.<br/>
<br/>
But none or less, rationale does find those who once possessed them. The initial Ao3 camp became less vocal, and started to withdraw but a few. More and more come to his aid as well, some facing backlashes themselves. Such as Yubin, who said during a live-stream that GG is a very kind person, and people should be kinder to him. And not to forget that majority of the silent camp, that was just that. Silent. Those who knew, more voices aren't gonna solve the problem.<br/>
<br/>
Some come to the conclusion that what they did was bad, but the damage was done. Without a leader, a battlefield is always a mess. So, where was XZ? On March 1st, three days after the 227, GG's studio released a statement, apologizing for taking up public ressource. Initially, when I saw this, I thought: "Why the hell are you apologizing? You did nothing wrong! Hell! You did nothing." But now I realise, and speculate, that to an extent, he must have felt responsibility. The burden of doing nothing.<br/>
<br/>
As mentioned above, there was a rumour that his Grandfather passed away. (for this, I have no hard proof, so I will call it a rumour). Facing a global emergency and familiar crisis, anyone of us can understand why a human being is not spending their effort, managing a fanatic group online. And the more he remained quiet, the more people took his calmness for weakness.<br/>
<br/>
<strong>6. Nothing new on the Weibo front. </strong><br/><br/>
When I was following this matter throughout the next few months, it was like reading "Nothing new on the western front". No one budges. Countless people hurt, more joined the ranks to fight for the sake of fight. It started to die down more and more as the lockdown was being loosened. Which was the main reason for me to draw the conclusion of the quarantine magnifying the situation. But damage is done. GG got dropped from endorsements, some cowered to the harasser, some simply out of fear for backlashes. As I mentioned in Chapter 1. The seasonal idol-endorsement was low-risk, high profit business for brands. None of them will stand up for principle, only for profit. This dark period extended well into April, until GG surprised us with "Spotlight" on April 25th.</p><p><br/>
<strong>7. Spotlight </strong><br/><br/>
So, let's move onto something good coming out of this. Hey, none of us thought he would release a new single. Let me take this chance to talk about this... well, the most befitting description of a "miracle" So, normally, when an Artist releases something, a marketing campaign is carefully planned around it. The importance and influence of marketing is pivotal for a product's success. You can say, Apple wouldn't have reached its status by simply selling their computer as a computer. No, they sold it as a lifestyle. And the marketing of a product is about setting up expectations, creating a desire you didn't know you had. Fanning the hype and letting it infest until the time is ripe for harvest.<br/>
<br/>
I'm not too familiar with the inner working of the music industry, but in related industries such as film, TV and video games, I know the marketing campaign is easily planned months ahead of the product's release. Carefully giving out teaser, trailer, interviews, public appearances before the thing actually hits. The cost of it often takes up a major part of the entire development cost. Say something cost 100 bucks to make all together, the marketing spend to purchase posters, commercials, pay people to talk about it could easily take up 30 bucks of that. And based on this spend and reach, industry experts create an expected chart of return. The more fans the artist has, the more guaranteed return you can get. So, why is Spotlight such a miracle? I don't think it's because its record sale (that is for sure amazing), it is, because it happened during the worst anti-XZ campaign and without any, really ANY marketing.</p><p><strong>7. Economic value </strong><br/><br/>
So ultimately, I don't think enough time has passed for us to pass judgement, if Spotlight was beneficial to GG or not. But I can pass my opinion on for both. How it benefited him. I mean, holy hell, he sold 30 million copies of a single, without marketing and outreach, no music video, nothing, nada! It was sold for 3 RMB per purchase, a pretty low price for someone of his fame, but hell, that's still a revenue of 90 million RMB. A industry KPI chart in July had listed it with over 100 million revenue in RMB.<br/>
<br/>
So, that's really good for him. First of all this single immediately drew the attention away from him as a person, onto his work. (Plus the fact, he's such a good singer!) Suddenly his name is hashtagged not alongside whatever bullshit people made up about him, but with his new song. A song smashing all records. Talking about records. Not only was the data impressive, it was a testament to his influence as an artist. Even with seemingly the entire world hating him, he made history. This is something I think will have a long term benefit.<br/>
<br/>
During that time, I started to research the music publication industry and the inner workings of the market saturation. What I came across is one piece of data that honestly shocked me. Normally in idol business, the majority of the target audience range between 13-25(f). Most fans of idols are in this category as well. based on person, between 30-70%. GG's largest fanbase: 24-44(f) at 80% Why is this impressive? Because this is the most well-funded audience group. We're talking about adult females, earning their own salary. Not school kids relying on pocket-money. This group is the wish target audience for any product. And the percentage says, his fans are loaded! This one single factor is the reason, why at the end of 2019, he dominated 80% of the market as of revenue.<br/>
<br/>
This piece of information and statement alone should send shock-waves throughout the industry, and it did. No founded proof, but those endorsers who dropped him, well, let's hope they cry themselves to sleep. (I will touch on KaiXiaoZao later, the food-brand which didn't drop him.) So, what worked against him? With world records under his belt and seemingly loaded on cash. What could go wrong, right? When I saw the data published days after his single was released, my initial thought was: "damn, he's gonna get shit tones of jealousy!"<br/>
<br/>
With this said, the story of 227 continues. The focus on XZ's person has died off a little, given that the full front of his supporter has surfaced through actions. Now the world knows how many supporters he really has. And early May, GG's fan association underwent re-organisation, focusing more on his works than his person. And finally some good piece of news came around this time as well.<br/>
<br/>
<strong>8. Let's put a stop to 227 </strong><br/><br/>
Puh! Thanks for bearing with me. We've made it. The period between May and July, I personally would mark it as the end of the 227 incident.<br/>
A few things contributed to the end. In May, GG officially filed a lawsuit against the ringleaders of Antis, and within weeks, the lawsuit has officially passed into processing, making it a legit criminal case. This is the beginning of the end. YAY! In July, Weibo closed accounts of these ringleaders, taking a stance against negativity. Although it didn't look like much, this is huge. It means, the internet in China no longer is a lawless place, which had been a slogan in the weeks prior to these events. Fans started to reject the idea of "fans do shit, the idol pays''.<br/>
<br/>
And with the lead of Hunan TV, a picture of him was also shown. With the power and influence of Hunan TV, the biggest private TV station in China releasing his pictures, the entertainment industry has silently taken a stance with him. And with GG's interview on July 14, where he gave a very controlled account of his state of mind during these events and apologised for being the centre of so many troubles. This was it. Whew. Finally, we're done. The 227 is over. Everyone not familiar with it, now knows the hard facts. In the next Chapter, I will dive into the fruit of Gratua's and my research about: Who's really responsible? Why did it happen? And what did it all mean? Answering the question hopefully: Do you really think this was about fan-fiction?</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Part 3.1 - What really happened?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Part 3 - What really happened</strong>
</p><p>Okay, so what really was going on behind 227. In my previous chapter, I have gone into details of the happenings, trying to show a clear picture of the events on the surface. Of course, what we see is only the tip of the iceberg, so let me make my best attempt to illustrate the underneath.</p><p>Please keep in mind, this is a conclusion from my month long personal observation, research and conversation with Gratua, mixed in with my personal understanding of the entertainment industry and economics.</p><p>
  <strong>1. Economic interests</strong>
</p><p>As I mentioned in Chapter 1. GG represented an enormous economic storm. With his reach extending so far and so fast with his rise to stardom, a lot of brands saw a very lucrative opportunity. At this point, it's worth mentioning, 2 works of his came out around the same time.</p><p>One being the Untamed, which had very high engagement numbers on the platform, and the one one being "Jade Dynasty I", hitting the cinemas in September.<br/>
While the success of "The Untamed" could still be attributed to the great script, an existing popular IP, high production value (for Chinese standards) and other noticeable cast such as Wang Yibo and Xuan Lu, the "Jade Dynasty I" was really a hit for Xiao Zhan.</p><p>He stared at the forefront of the story, with two other female leads with some following, but not to the extent, that could be considered for the major success, given the script and pacing of the film didn't offer the same level of quality as the Untamed.</p><p>On the opening weekend, this film saw the box-office record of 100 million RMB, and quickly moved on to conquer other countries. So with not one, but two popular works under his belt, he was at this point certainly a "safe bet" for the coming season.</p><p>With already noticeable endorsement deals like Olay under his belt, he saw the demand going even higher.</p><p>So how did we get to the point, that he had sooooo many deals and was dominating. I see two major factors contributing to this.</p><p>
  <strong>First: Demand.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong></strong>
</p><p>
  <strong></strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Second: Pricing.</strong>
</p><p>GG at that point could still be considered a newcomer in the industry. The only previous work in film &amp; TV was "Oh my emperor", although popular, still could only be considered third rate at best. So, I cannot imagine, his endorsement cut or fee would be high, making him the go-to person for minimum investment vs. maximum profit.</p><p>And mixed that in with mismanagement from his company wjjw... well, that's just that, right. A perfect brewing storm.</p><p>
  <strong>2. All the vices</strong>
</p><p>As we know, the market is quite saturated with various idols fighting for exposure through endorsement, as they're fast and easy money. Imagine there are 100 of us fighting over 5 pieces of cake. And one of them takes over 4 of them. How would you feel?</p><p>None or less, let's not forget, we're approaching the end of the year.</p><p>The last quarter of the year with its looming holiday season is the most important for many companies to balance out their books. Idol businesses included. And yet, this one person is making it hard for them balancing out their books.</p><p>From my perspective and GG’s interviews, he strikes me as a person that likes to have a plan. I’m sure, he had certain expectations of his efforts to carry results, but what I don’t think is that he had anticipated quite this reaction. (to that I say: Xiao Zhan, you could have dreamed bigger, if Wang Yibo’s admiration for you is anything to give you a hint.)</p><p>My assumption here is that he desires stability over shot to fame and fall from grace, so what was happening in the later half of the year, put something who had been working tirelessly for years completely off course. Of course, I cannot claim to know what mindset GG was in at that time, but if I were in his situation, I would have been too whiplashed by the sudden change to consider and carefully weigh out the long-term consequences of this demand.</p><p>Paired with a kind-hearted nature, I can safely assume that the level of envy and offence was outside of his expectation. And we know, evil lingers in every corner, and his wins, means someone’s loss.</p><p>Fact is, while he gained millions of fans, and brands made millions off his face, he had made himself some very powerful enemy, waiting for an opportunity to strike.</p><p>
  <strong>3. Blacking</strong>
</p><p>This kind of professional blacking isn't exactly new. The history of defamation dates back to ancient Greece. In recent years, it has become the go to method to discredit the competition, be it an artist or a company.</p><p>When "The Guardian" aired, both main actors faced cyber attacks similar to 227, though on a much smaller scale. Lay (Zhang Yixing) had been a victim of cyberattacks, leading to many mental health issues. Even XZ and Yibo themselves have faced slanderous rumors before, all of them on a relatively small scale. (I will go into the Yibo Scandal in 2018 in another installment)</p><p>As Idols are often only supported by their fan-group, many onlookers who knew little about said idols joined the commotion, thus creating the traffic needed to "make it big". The methods are many, ranging from semi-professional critics, big name fans abandoning him, scrutiny of their shortcomings or balent expression of hate.</p><p>Most of those are posted by “gunmen'' hired to do so using carefully groomed fake accounts or buying dormant accounts with large following. One of the main gunman of 227 e.g. used a dormant account of a private person previously known for her charity work against cancer patients, gaining access to a large audience and slowly used that influence to spread rumours and hate. (This came out during the trial following GG’s lawsuit.)</p><p>Until the end of July 2020, the chinese social media and their comment section remained an unspoken lawless space. Very few private-account users need to account for their actions, making it a perfect space to hide behind the seemingly functioning freedom of speech.</p><p>227 of course remains to this day the largest premeditated cyber attack campaign. In the previous Post, Luna had already gone into its formation.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Part 3.2 - What really happened?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Part 3 - What really happened</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>4. A calculated endeavour</strong>
</p><p>Now we know, GG certainly has enemies, and there is an industry waiting to hit hard for cash. Why I at this point believe that 227 is a very well calculated attack. The timing was just too perfect.</p><p>It was just after the Chinese New Year, the country was in lockdown, which means, there are numerous idle hands with financial interests that can be leveraged.</p><p>Plus the fact that most of GG’s endorsement deals were ending around that time either. In March or April, the new seasonal idol would have been found at that time, so the harm to brands can be safely assumed to be minimum. (Because, if by the end of the quarter, your books are still off, you’re pretty doomed anyway).</p><p>Given the fact that the country is in an indefinite lockdown and consumption of material goods has gone down anyway, the expectation for the next quarter cannot be high, so what’s the benefit for a brand to hold on to a disgraced idol? Since they mostly come dime a dozen.</p><p>The timing was way too suspicious to assume it happened by accident.</p><p>So let me talk about the disappearance of the Ao3 website, which seemed to be the catalyst of it all anyway.</p><p>Since the beginning of 2020, the government has been undertaking censorship of the internet already, erasing unwanted material and locking websites. The censorship in China is a well discussed topic worldwide, I assume, all of you have come across it one way or the other. The great firewall of China is no joke.</p><p>Besides anti-government content, the highest threat to society in the government’s eyes, is porn. Or everything that is yellow. So the campaign operating under the slogan of “create a safe internet to protect youth and children” had been systematically banning websites with seemingly yellow content. (Part of this is why the original novel “Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation” was censored and Extra Chapters only hosted on website outside of Mainland China)</p><p>Of course the chinese government understands the need for freedom of speech and freedom of creativity. That is why websites like LOFTER or AO3 can exist on the chinese internet. Most of the time, the government operates under the pretence of ignorance. If no one reported those websites, they don’t exist. From time to time, the operators of such websites will get a slap on the wrist or a stirn cough to remind them of the chinese slogan, but otherwise, they are left alone.</p><p>Here comes my speculation. With a country erasing content from the internet and a perpetual reputation for corruption, it really isn’t much of an effort to make something disappear at a given time. These could happen, based on the check size, between minutes to months.</p><p>When it comes to calculate endeavour, large resources have to be planned and utilised. So the safe bet is, this costs a boat load of money. I mean boat load.</p><p>Through my research, I have come across accounts claiming that they are liaisons for others to approach people with resentment against XZ. Offering them cash for post and traffic. The most disgusting case I saw offered 1 RMB for a like, 2 RMB for a comment and 4 RMB for a post.</p><p>Based on the amount of traffic 227 was generating, a single anti-hashtag generated millions of views and likes within hours, and this went on for weeks. This is not something a group of fans can spin up within days.</p><p>
  <strong>5. Who did this?</strong>
</p><p>Of course, at this point, people started to come to the similar conclusion why this wasn’t merely the doing of a few obscure fan sites existing only within a social media application. The idea of a “man behind the curtains” quickly festered.</p><p>During my research, I have come across some believable and also ridiculous theories. So, let me be so bold and take apart one that gained the most traction.</p><p>In April I came across the accusation that YueHua and banded together with several other Idol management companies to raise 2 billion RMB  to run this campaign; approximately 300 Mil. Dollar, just saying, the last Star Wars film was made with less.</p><p>First, I thought, OH NO! Then it brought me onto the path to search for credibility. Because… it was not unthinkable.</p><p>YueHua was THE rising star within the idol industry. Artists under their management had been dominating the popularity contest way before XZ reached fame and with TU, Wang Yibo started to enjoy a similar amount of attention. With only so many deals on the market, YueHua could feasibly feel threatened.</p><p>Especially, in time for the Spring season, Yibo’s new endorsements started to hit the market. Early May after “The Legend of Fei” wrapped, there was a period of weeks, where Yibo was announcing new endorsements daily. (I’m sure you all have lost count how many products he is endorsing now.)</p><p>So.. the question is, would these deals have gone to XZ, if he weren’t blacked? My guess is partially. Looking at the type of brands and products Yibo’s image fits and what XZ had been attached to, it really sits pretty well next to each other. Food and Cosmetics. Perfect consumption goods for the target audience.</p><p>At this point, I have no concrete proof to say if it was YH and to what extent Yibo himself was involved. But what I do know for sure, is that countless rumours hinted that both Yibo and XZ knew about this. Given these are hints and rumours, I would exclude them as conclusive enough to impact the outcome.</p><p>But then it got me thinking. Does YH actually have this type of resources? Even in collaboration with others. 2 Billion RMB is a significant amount of money. And this fund would have to be liquid. Why? Because the blackers certainly won’t do shit for nothing but cash. Do they have that type of liquid resource at hand? My assumption is, “maybe”. But I would certainly not use that for a smear campaign. To what end? So they have a chance of endorsement deals that they don’t have yet?</p><p>If someone on my team came to me with such a proposal, I would have let them go on the spot to suggest something this outrageously risky. Let alone the fact… they will be attacking one of the most lucrative artists of a subsidiary of Tencent, while they themselves had been carefully cultivating a close relationship with Tencent music.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Part 3.3 - What really happened?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Part 3 - What really happened</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>6. Another possibility</strong>
</p><p>Now comes one of the lesser known theories, which seemed plausible to me. This is the fruit of my observation and research. Given the lack of hard evidence, please take this with a huge grain of salt.</p><p>After months of chaos with blame freely thrown around, something became clear.</p><p>All of XZ’s works and appearances had been delayed until further notice, with no excuses. With “The Oath of Love”- being his most anticipated work of course- taking the center stage and the non-stop mention of “The Wolf” - which had been in production hell since it wrapped in 2017. Yet in all of this, next to no one actually stopped to take a look at the massive popular IP “Douluo Continent”. Although it is mentioned as XZ’s work, no rumor or facts were released about this IP.</p><p>What is Doulu Continent? It is one of the biggest IP in china. The works within this IP include Online Video Game, weekly Manga, scheduled release of Donghua episodes on Bilibili, which always gain millions of views despite its relatively short content.</p><p>XZ started as the main character within it’s Drama adaptation by Tencent Picture, which marks the second work XZ collaborated with Tencent. (The Untamed being the first)</p><p>Well now comes the interesting part. Because of the mismanagement by WJJW and their deficits in giving XZ suitable screenworks, XZ has signed his screenworks to Penguin Pictures, a subdivision of Tencent.</p><p>Many rumors had surfaced about the difficulty in producing Douluo Continent Drama even during the shooting period, ranging from critics about XZ’s suitability as Tang San to rumors about conflicts on set. Given that Douluo Continent is promised to be Tencent’s next big hit and the power Tencent has in China, those rumors vanished quickly.</p><p>It has been more than a year since the principle photography of Douluo Continent wrapped in Summer 2019 and we have yet to see a trailer of it. The only results released to the public remain until one single poster featuring the Main Leads (XZ and Wu Xuan Yi).</p><p>It has been claimed that Individuals strongly associated with Tencent Pictures had orchestrated the defamation of their own artist to shift the blame. With XZ’s scandal dominating all social platforms, it is easy to hide difficulties within Tencent’s own production.</p><p>Of course counter arguments were made that Tencent’s rivals were behind it. By trying to push XZ onto the blacklist and preventing any of his works from release, it has killed one of the biggest IP in China, that was bound to become unstoppable.</p><p>With Tencent’s reach and dominance in China and worldwide from their products such as WeChat, firmly controlling the telecommunication of the world’s largest market and their ownership of multiple video game studios world wide (Epic Games, Riot Games and Supercell), they are the unbeatable Goliath in the entertainment. With their recent move towards streaming with Tencent Music and Tencent Pictures, they are about to conquer yet another market. Of course, we can assume here, that there are entities, very eager to slow down their growth.</p><p>As Duolo Continent forms a strategically important work in Tencent’s world domination plan (yes, it really is world domination), its main lead becomes an easy target to start a war, gambling on a chain reaction.</p><p>With Tencent’s domination at stake, we can safely assume that money would be invested, to either save Tencent’s good name or to destroy it.</p><p>
  <strong>7. The Test Run</strong>
</p><p>Yet another theory that surfaced calls this “The Test”.</p><p>As aforementioned, the Blacking Industry is extremely lucrative and in demand. Much of China’s consumption is based on a good reputation. With countless brands flooding the market, people tend to buy that with a good name. (Similar trends could be observed world wide.)</p><p>Company image has become a selling point, with people supporting a brand’s philosophy and lifestyle over actual quality.</p><p>Why a test? Because XZ is the perfect target. He is young and relatively new in the industry. He is at the top of all leaderboards and has gained millions of fans in a very short time. Most importantly, he lacks backing. Although he is an artist signed by WJJW, his importance to that Agency is minimal, as he no longer produces music.</p><p>Furthermore, XZ lacks the backing of important individuals, who would use their own C-ent influence to shield him from harm. The only leverage in his pocket at the time was his fans, which as we have seen, can be quickly turned against him. Plainly said, XZ is completely without protection.</p><p>The goal of this operation was nothing but a demonstration of destructive force. If this Blacking Industry can use their own methods to destroy someone who does only have a clean record, but is also at the top of his fame, then this blacking Industry can become a weapon for the corporate giants to conduct their business.</p><p>Why XZ many would ask. Because someone from the entertainment industry is not considered an indispensable person of cultural importance; as much as we would like him to be, he wasn’t quite there yet to claim that status. The government is not concerned by the loss of one young actor, neither would the economy suffer because of one man. People will need those products he might be endorsing. But without him, other idols will take over. And the machine keeps spinning.</p><p>
  <strong>8. Conclusion</strong>
</p><p>So with the elaborate explanation of what could have happened behind 227, we can now conclude these following things.</p><p>The entire happening of 227 was not about one single fanfiction. That much is clear.</p><p>The entire happening of 227 was an orchestrated event by very powerful people.</p><p>Given how powerful these people are, and how much damage they could do in a very short amount of time, and how much resources they could mobilise, I doubt honestly, that the truth will ever come out in reasonable time. If they could make something happen, they could also make something go away.</p><p>I am very sorry, we cannot provide any more insight and offer accountable information. But let’s not end this hard-to-swallow chapter on a down. There is one high to take away from this.</p><p>And that is Xiao Zhan himself. Whomever started this, the part I don’t think they anticipated was how god-damn popular Xiao Zhan is. And he is certainly no pawn to be used and discarded. After months of defamation, he had conducted himself with grace and dignity. The communities supporting him followed his example and held on firm. Not only did he not disappear, he has gained many more fans who had come to love him.</p><p>And above all, the most long lasting impact is that he had impacted the law, leaving in place a legacy that will long outlive him and the waves of the idol business.</p><p>Next Chapter, What’s the Aftermath of 227, Gratua and I will dive into more details about the positive outcome of the 227. And yes, there are numerous of them.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Part 4.1 - What's the aftermath?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Part 4 - What's the aftermath?</strong>
</p><p>Hello everyone, I’m finally back. With my previous chapters about what happened during 227 and Gratua and my analysis of what might have happened behind the scenes, I guess it’s about time we take a look beyond the happenings itself.</p><p>My intention is to draw some connections between the events themselves, theories and link them to seemingly unrelated events. So, this might sound like conspiracy theory all together, or make sense to some people. At least, it made sense to me.</p><p>
  <strong>1. The tiniest stone can also cast the biggest wave</strong>
</p><p>In Chapter 3, “what really happened at 227”, we went already into details of what was behind, but those actions of course didn’t go unnoticed. Like every stone cast into the pond, it will make ripples. So of course, all the keyboard-war mongering, online trolls and general hostility wasn’t missed by the public either.</p><p>With what looks like the biggest shit-storm in the new decade and recent memory (given the internet’s memory is very short), Xiao Zhan of course is the epicentre of this perfect storm.</p><p>At this point, the early months after 227, before the waves have subsided, this highly controversial actor really doesn’t seem like a good choice to anyone. As I mentioned in my previous analysis, he was dropped by endorsers, appearances cancelled and his three dramas, still awaiting release, have yet to make an appearance to this day.</p><p>During this time, it was strategically unwise to associate anything with him. Most people followed the mind-set “if you don’t talk about it, eventually it would go away.”</p><p>
  <strong>2. The destructive force of hate</strong>
</p><p>And this brings me to the point of hate. I was very conflicted during the entire time at 227. It was like an internal battle of curiosity and rational mind. I knew, with every click I did, I was either adding a data point to anti-posts but those click-bait titles were also just too… baiting.</p><p>And as this thought crossed my mind, I’m sure it did with others as well. I was regularly in contact with Gratua where she told me about the ugly hate she saw again. And on goes our conversation to analyse the situation, to find sanity in this insanity.</p><p>This part might get philosophical, but bear with me. When our mind is thirsting for information, as the thoughts just don’t make sense, we lust after every bit of new information, and those blanks in our rational is exactly what antis provide. Because in a situation, where we have no opinion, we adopt one. Until we question that, that is. So, although I don’t want to be preachy, I ask everyone who calls themselves a support to question the information they get. Ask for sources and validation before simply believing it.</p><p>With a lot of hate in the air during the time of February to now, Xiao Zhan was not without friends. While everyone is trying to get as far away from him as possible, as not to mention even his existence, there were powerful people handing him a helping hand.</p><p>For example, during the promotion of “My roommate is a detective”, the main leads joined the famous “happy camp”, taking part in an episode titled “famous best friends”. Originally, according to rumours, GGDD were supposed to make an appearance together, as their friendship is famous. But of course, this didn’t come to fruition, not from the lack of trying I believe. But… Yes, there is a but in this. In the introduction of this episode, Hunan TV was literally the first TV Station  to show another picture of Xiao Zhan on TV, and one with Yibo. It was short, like, “blink you’ll miss it” short image, but it was already a stance they have taken.</p><p>Hunan TV, aka Mango TV is the top entertainment channel in the country, they reign the entertainment industry as the most popular platform. (Basically, every top idol is heavily associated with them).</p><p>As everyone is aware now, this was a battle long not over. It was punch after punch. You hit me, I hit back and you hit again. Eventually as both sides lay on the ground covered in wounds, we have forgotten why we fight.</p><p>Unfortunately I have to share other examples of hate that cause massive destruction.</p><p>Okay, brands’s customer service were bombarded with messages to change endorsers, or these people will call for a boycott.</p><p>GG was rumoured to appear as a guest in a travel variety show. Paparazzi spread his pictures arriving on site, causing a massive amount of harassment mails and calls made to the TV station, calling again for boycott. Xiao Zhan was never announced to take part regardless of (paparazzi) picture that he was part of. And his appearances cut out.</p><p>The last and hardest one was when in May, someone shared a screenshot of a conversation between two unknown people, leaking the information that the famous TV host of Mango TV He Jiong allegietly invited Xiao Zhan to take part in his variety show. Of course, one of these sources was ever confirmed by the official accounts. Yet the anti fanbase exploded with harassment, the worst language and homophobic attacks.</p><p>And it brought us the first Weibo Post since 227 by GG.</p>
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<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Part 4.2 - What's the aftermath?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong> Part 4 - What's the aftermath?</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>3. Sauron’s eye is on you now</strong>
</p><p>So after He Jiong was the target of attack for a little bit, Xiao Zhan made a Weibo post saying. “Do not hurt others! And sorry for causing trouble for everyone”.</p><p>If it was a smart thing to do or not, I cannot tell. I personally saw a lot of perseverance and loyalty in his actions. At this point, he had been the target for everyone to hit for months, and silently he endured everything, never making an appearance and never speaking up at all, but when his friend was targeted, he risked envied hostility and spoke up.</p><p>As I had this thought, others had too. On the one side, the hate continued, but on the others, this act of loyalty was not missed. And… well, surprisingly, I would mark this the point, that things really started to turn.</p><p>Lots of articles started to appear online. Character analysis, situation analysis or simply praise of his person. Numerous videos and posts were made, with compilation of his behaviour to showcase how good a person he is. (yes a lot of it is rainbow-farts, but they are all based on truth). Compilation of his past interviews made the round, talking about his upbringing and the deeply embedded attitude towards treating others kindly. And also praises by industry seniors echoing this thought. (Among many, the director of “Joy of Life”, Na Ying, his mentor on “Our Song” and the Director of “Buying ears” and “House rules”, all praised his politeness, his courtesy and kindness).</p><p>I’ll come back to my point. With attention comes scrutiny. And these waves just don't stop.</p><p>Not long after this comparatively small incident, Xiao Zhan made another post saying, “I do not need help.” Which originally was cryptic was soon discovered to be the answer to a viral video making its round.</p><p>An elementary teacher had filmed a video of her class singing “spotlight” in support of Xiao Zhan, which sparked controversy throughout the country. Those against XZ used it as another reason to attack him, accusing him of being a bad example to the youth of the country, because his fans would push their agenda in class, while another camp started to debate another topic, which is the interest of teachers in pop-idols while acting as educational institutions.</p><p>So, if you still follow now, let me point you to the biggest eye on the Chinese Sky. THE GOVERNMENT. Pretty quickly, the government started paying attention, making numerous statements and taking a stance against “Idol-ism” in classrooms.</p><p>At the same time, XZ’s studio released other statements calling out for rationalism while chasing idols, including messages like “the love for an idol is not expressed with money only. Take care of your education and career first before chasing stars. And the limits of professionalism should not be crossed.”</p><p>So finally, after what felt like 10k words, I’ve finally reached the first real impact of the 227!!! Yay!</p><p>A national discussion regarding the attitude towards idol-ism. How much money is enough to spend on a hobby like chasing stars? What behaviour is appropriate for a “fan”? Does a fan have to buy everything the star endorses? To what degree is the star responsible for the behaviour of the fans? To what extent does the star have power over their fans? To what extent must the star manage their fanbase?</p><p>All these questions haven’t been answered yet, and I don’t think they will be answered any time soon. But what is impact, is that we are asking the questions. We are having this debate and we are making progress.</p><p>The only way for the entire fandom and society to evolve is to constantly question the rules and what supposedly must be done. With the 227 incident, I think Xiao Zhan has been a main contributor to bring awareness and urgency to a topic that is certainly long overdue.</p><p>Also I would like to mention, this debate and whatever outcome is not solely attributed to Xiao Zhan of course. It had been ongoing for a long time, only this level of attention brought freshness to it. And hopefully, we can all come out wiser and better than before.</p><p>
  <strong>4. The law suit</strong>
</p><p>The most long lasting aftermath of this entire incident certainly must be attributed to the lawsuit started by a Beijing firm in May. With the debate about rationalism, idol-ism in education and personal bias of people of influence, there is also another big part. This behaviour has many names. Internet-violence, Soft-violent, cold-violence, cyber-bullying, the cancel culture, Keyboard warriors, trolls.</p><p>The exact happening behind the scenes will remain unknown to us for a while, in my last chapter, Gratua and I have tried to shed light on some possibilities, but what exactly is the truth, the time will tell. However, as this point, I can certainly say, that the lawsuit filed by the Beijing firm on Xiao Zhan’s behalf plays a role, the exact size, again, remains inconclusive.</p><p>What are the actual impacts of the lawsuit? The firm filed a lawsuit against several Weibo accounts for defamation and within weeks, it was publicised that the lawsuit has been accepted and will enter processing. From that moment on, it became an investigative matter of the police department and its public information became scarce.</p><p>A while later, exact point, pardon my failing memory and laziness, I forgot, it was clear that these accounts disappeared off Weibo and a few followup secondary accounts disappeared as well; seemingly putting an end to the voice-leaders for sure.</p><p>While the internet campaign under the slogan “The Internet is not a lawless place” went on full throttle, gaining massive following. For those unaware of 227 or even Xiao Zhan, it was certainly an attitude to get behind. Other celebrities or personalities also take stance with the idea of regulating hate-speeches online as to protect the public sentiment and not to spread hate and misinformation online. Which is not a new phenomenon, we have observed similar movements online in western countries as well. The power of social media and its reach is now very embedded in people’s heads.</p><p>A couple months ago, when this was happening, the Hot-search of Weibo stopped also for 7 days. This is like saying there are no more Twitter trends anymore. If this is related to the regulation and movement of 227, I cannot say. But the timing is quite suspicious. By official account of Sina, the platform was undergoing construction therefore this part of the service would not be available. If 227’s reach was that far that it directly impacted the platform rules, I will not dare to make that statement.</p><p>However, soon after, a new law passed into effect to regulate speeches online. All hate-speeches are banned. Of course what looked like a good intent without a specification leaves rooms for loopholes and exploitation. What I can summarise here is, that all malicious speech with vulgar language and malicious intent to harm individuals, companies or entities are now banned from the platform. Users now on Weibo have the ability to report comments and posts in these areas.</p><p>All types of harassment to companies, studios or private persons are banned as well, if the intent is to disturb the free market competition. So what it means is, if antis continue to harass brands because of their choices of endorsements with boycott or simple harassment speech, now legal actions can be taken in this regard.</p><p>
  <strong>5. Long lasting impact</strong>
</p><p>Okay, coming to the final part of the aftermath analysis. So far, I have identified a few points of direct result of 227 which I think will be longer lasting than just a scandal.</p><p>The conversation about rationally chasing stars is certainly a conversation long overdue. In previous parts I have extensively talked about the economical impact of the idol business and now I’ll touch on the social impact of it as well. The world “Idol” itself is defined by a person as a positive example to follow or imitate. Its current meaning in the society is that of beauty, grace and good behaviour, coming at the cost of consumerism. Exploiting the rather younger population to imitate a certain lifestyle. Some people take it to the extreme and cause trouble and negative attention.</p><p>The call for rationalising it means to put more thought and guidelines behind an industry that’s heading towards escalation in record time. Which on its own, I personally support. In anything we do, we maintain our own critical thinking process.</p><p>The second major impact is the discussion of personal affection for public figures merging into professional circles. Which was kicked off kind of with the teacher misdirecting their energy with school children. Because in the end, what we’re doing and watching here is entertainment. With Xiao Zhan’s stance, entertainment takes a lower priority behind education, professionalism and personal care.</p><p>The third long lasting impact is of course the precedent law suit in online defamation and the subsequent law of banning hate-speeches online.</p><p>This point is way more impactful and complex for us to discuss in this little analysis. But at this point I would like to use the sane part of my brain to highlight what I see positive about this and but also dangerous.</p><p>Of course, protection online is the key for a rational exchange of opinion. We hopefully are doing that already by regulating our own language and emotions, but having a rule in place helps protect those who cannot do it themselves.</p><p>But with every passing law, we’re putting a limit on things, which leads me back to the very old idea of. “How much freedom are you willing to sacrifice for security?”</p><p>I think anyone keeping an eye on political and social debate in recent years have certainly heard something about it. With the technology advancing on almost daily iteration, the tools at our disposal have become vast. Every single one of these technologies is a double edge sword, while on one side, it connects us and lets us express ourselves, but it can also become a conduit to do harm. I think it goes without saying that words have power, and where this powerful weapon cuts, we cannot always predict. Sure thing is, if it can be used for good, it can also be used for the worse. Such as what social Media has achieved to destroy a person’s reputation, it is also the platform to save one.</p>
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<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Part 5 - Final words</h2></a>
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  <strong>Part 5 - Final words</strong>
</p><p>So we’ve come to the end of my 227 analysis. As you can imagine, the entire ordeal was way bigger than I showed here. I can summarise here and a lot of stuff happened as well. Rumours, claims, hearsays.  A Lot of them. I’ve tried my best to leave out anything that can’t be proven, following the only observable facts and happenings. What we see is always only the tip of the iceberg. Eventually the truth will come to light, and it can then replace a bit of the un-clarity in the storyline. Until then, we’ll be patient.</p><p>As a positive ending note, with the storm passing, what we know is.</p><p>Wang Yibo is as famous as a 23 years old idol can get, pursuing a career out of passion and on a path to cement himself as an established actor with exciting upcoming projects, while overcoming all obstacles tossed at him in this storm as well.</p><p>And Xiao Zhan, his popularity had continued to rise, gaining a new horde of fans, following him because of who he is, not how he looks. Those who choose to stand by him with his opinion and character, making the word Idol truly worthy of its meaning.</p><p>And with these stepping stones in place, one can only wait for the next step to follow and we will be there, eagerly anticipating their new works and watching their careers with interest.</p><p>At the end, I would like to thank Gratua, who had been instrumental for these research, analysis and discussion. And also blame her for bringing me to CQL, causing it to take over my life in the most beautiful storm.</p>
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